...the world's leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness company.

Our mission of "Good

Food, Good Life" is to provide consumers with the best tasting, most nutritious choices in
a wide range of food and beverage categories and eating occasions, from morning to
night.

The Company was founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland, where our

headquarters are still located today. We employ around 280 000 people and have
factories or operations in almost every country in the world. Nestlé sales for 2009 were
CHF 108 bn. 

The Nestlé Corporate Business Principles (pdf, 1 Mb) are at the basis of our company’s
culture, developed over 140 years, which reflects the ideas of fairness, honesty and long-
term thinking.

Nestlé
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Nestlé S.A.

Type Société Anonyme (SIX: NESN)

Industry Food processing
Founded Vevey, Switzerland (1866)
Founder(s) Henri Nestlé
Headquarters Vevey, Switzerland
Area served Worldwide
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (Chairman), Paul
Key people
Bulcke (CEO)
Baby food, coffee, dairy products, breakfast
Products cereals, confectionery, bottled water, ice
cream, pet foods (list...)
Revenue CHF 107.6 billion (2009)[1]
Operating
CHF 15.70 billion (2009)[1]
income
Profit CHF 10.43 billion (2009)[1]
Total assets CHF 110.9 billion (2009)[1]
Total equity CHF 53.63 billion (2009)[1]
Employees 278,000 (2009)[1]
Website www.nestle.com

Nestlé S.A. (French pronunciation: [nɛsˈle]) is the largest

consumer packaged goods company in the world,[2]
founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.
Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss
Milk Company, which was established in 1866 by
brothers George Page and Charles Page, and the Farine
Lactée Henri Nestlé Company, which was founded in
1866 by Henri Nestlé. The company grew significantly
during the First World War and following the Second
World War, eventually expanding its offerings beyond
its early condensed milk and infant formula products.
Today, the company operates in 86 countries around the
world and employs nearly 283,000 people

History of Nestlé

Nestlé began in Switzerland in the mid 1860s when

founder Henri Nestlé created one of the first baby
formulas. Henri realized the need for a healthy and
economical product to serve as an alternative for
mothers who could not breastfeed their babies. Mothers
who were unable to breastfeed often lost their infants to
malnutrition. Henri’s product was a carefully formulated
mixture of cow’s milk, flour and sugar. Nestlé’s first
product was called Farine Lactée (“cornflour gruel” in
French) Henri Nestlé. The product was first used on a
premature baby who could not tolerate his mother’s
milk or other alternative products of that time. Doctors
gave up on treating the infant. Miraculously the baby
tolerated Henri’s new formula and it provided the
nourishment that saved his life. Within a few years the
first Nestlé product was marketed in Europe.

In 1874 the Nestlé Company was purchased by Jules Monnerat. Nestlé developed its
own condensed milk to contend with its competitor, the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk
Company. The Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company made products like cheese and
instant formulas. The two companies merged in 1905, the year after Nestlé added
chocolate to its line of foods. The newly formed Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss Milk Company
had factories in the United States, Britain, Spain and Germany. Soon the company was
full-scale manufacturing in Australia with warehouses in Singapore, Hong Kong and
Bombay. Most production still took place in Europe.

The start of World War I made it difficult for Nestlé to buy raw ingredients and distribute
products. Fresh milk was scarce in Europe, and factories had to sell milk for the public
need instead of using it as an ingredient in foods. Nestlé purchased several factories in
the U.S. to keep up with the increasing demand for condensed milk and dairy products
 via government contracts. The company’s production doubled by the end of the war.
When fresh milk became available again after the war, Nestlé suffered and slipped into
debt. The price of ingredients was increasing, the economy has slowed and exchange
rates deteriorated because of the war.

An expert banker helped Nestlé find ways to reduce its debt. By the 1920s Nestlé was
creating new chocolate and powdered beverage products. Adding to the product line
once again, Nestlé developed Nescafé in the 1930s and Nestea followed. Nescafé, a
soluble powder, revolutionized coffee drinking and became an instant hit.

With the onset of the Second World War, profits plummeted. Switzerland was neutral in
the war and became increasingly isolated in Europe. Many of Nestlé’s executive officers
were transferred to offices in the U.S. Because of distribution problems in Europe and
Asia, Nestlé opened factories in developing countries in Latin America. Production
increased dramatically after America entered the war. Nescafé became a main beverage
for the American servicemen in Europe and Asia. Total sales increased by $125 million
from 1938 to 1945.

Nestlé continued to prosper, merging with Alimentana S.A., a company that

manufactured soups and seasonings, in 1947. In the coming years, Nestlé acquired
Crosse & Blackwell, Findus frozen foods, Libby’s fruit juices, and Stouffer’s frozen foods.
Nescafé instant coffee sales quadrupled from 1960 to 1974, and the new technology of
freeze-drying allowed the company to create a new kind of instant coffee, which they
named Taster’s Choice.

Expanding its product line outside of the food market, Nestlé became a major
stockholder in L’Oréal cosmetics in 1974. Soon after the company suffered with
increasing oil prices and the slowing growth in industrialized countries. Foreign
exchange rates decreased, in turn reducing the value of sterling, the pound, dollar and
franc. Prices of coffee beans and cocoa rose radically, presenting further problems for
Nestlé. The company decided to venture into the pharmaceutical industry by acquiring
Alcon Laboratories, Inc. While trying to deal with unstable economic conditions and
exploring its new ventures, Nestlé faced the crisis of an international boycott.

Many organized groups began boycotting all of Nestlé’s products because they
disapproved of Nestlé marketing its baby formula in developing countries. Problems like
illiteracy and poverty caused some mothers to use less formula than recommended. In a
watered down formula, vital nutrients are lessoned. Contaminated water presented
another problem, since the formulas had to be mixed with water. The organizations
argued that the misuse of formula resulted in the malnutrition or death of many infants in
developing countries.

According to Nestlé the World Health Organization never made statements tying infant
death or malnutrition with baby formulas. The company didn’t deny the superiority of
breastfeeding and agreed that substituting breast milk for other substances could be
very dangerous. Nestlé explained that breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers in
developing countries often gave their babies whole cow’s milk, tea, cornstarch, rice
water or a mix of flour and water. These alternatives were very unhealthy and a
nutritional baby formula was a better choice. Nestlé says that it has never discouraged
breastfeeding when it was possible. Nestlé agreed to follow the International Code in
 developing countries in 1984, and the boycott was suspended. It resumed several years
later when the organizations believed Nestlé was sending free or low cost baby formulas
to developing countries. Nestlé said it only sent formula to countries that allow donations
for orphans, multiple births, and babies with no access to breast milk. The company has
stopped all public advertising for formula in developing countries for almost 20 years.
The boycott continues to some extent to this day without satisfactory resolution.

By the 1980s Nestlé had a new Chief Executive Officer. The company focused on
improving its financial situation and continuing to expand. In the one of the largest
takeovers at that time, Nestlé bought Carnation for $3 billion and parted with any
unprofitable businesses. International trade barriers diminished in the 1990s, opening
trade with parts of Europe and China. In the 1990s Nestlé acquired San Pellegrino, and
Spillers Petfoods of the UK. With the acquisition of Ralston Purina in 2002, the Nestlé-
owned pet care businesses joined to form the industry leader Nestlé Purina PetCare.
The leading in the food industry, Nestlé brings in $81 billion in overall sales and has 470
factories around the world. Nestlé will continue to grow, introduce new products and
renovate existing ones. The company’s mission is to focus on long-term potential over
short-term performance.

Nestlé’s Main Brands

Nestlé expands across many different markets

including beverages, ice cream, baby foods/formulas,
soups, frozen foods, snacks, pet care and of course
candy. Some of Nestlé’s main brands include:

 Kit Kat, Butterfinger, Smarties, Crunch, Quality

Street, Milkybar/Galak, Tollhouse
 Nestea, Nescafé, Taster’s Choice, Nesquick,
Carnation, Libby’s
 Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets, Buitoni,
Powerbar
 Purina, Friskies, Fancy Feast, Dog & Cat Chow, Tidy Cats
 Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Pure Life, Arrowhead
 Good Start, Nan, Lactogen, Beba